Kids Love Soup, Make Cooking a Family Learning Experience
Mar 26th 2015
Our Little Schoolhouse Alphabet Soup Mix is made with organic wheat pasta and has all the numerals and letters of the alphabet. Make family time in the kitchen a joyful learning experience with the ABC's of nutrition and reading. No phones allowed! Cook with your kids for a great day.
1. Make it a Family Activity
Homemade soups usually require some preparation. This can be made fun by having the whole family participate in preparing vegetables and additions, measuring ingredients and stirring the soup. Many great family memories can be made in the kitchen making delicious soup for dinner when its cold outside.
2. Kids Respond to Smell and Color
When it comes to new foods, they respond to lots of the same seductive qualities that grown-ups do such as color, texture, and of course the smell of freshly prepared food.
3. Use Bread or Crackers for Dipping
Always serve bread or crackers with soup to make it a more fun eating experience. The action of dipping bread or breaking crackers makes eating soup an more unique activity. Try different types of bread such as cornbread so your children get to taste a variety of textures.
4. Immersion Blenders Work Magic
You can combine different fresh vegetables blended together that your children might not normally eat. Marialisa Calta, food columnist and author of the family cookbook, Barbarians at the Plate, says “kids will tend to accept vegetables — like broccoli, peas or even onions — mixed together in soup in a way they might shy away from if those same veggies were just sitting on their plate.”
5. Learn the Classics But Don’t be Afraid to Experiment
There’s no question that chicken soup is a kid favorite, but you shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. Use different variations or experiment from a cookbook or your own ethnic base. You could make a different version every once in awhile to keep it interesting. Try different soups based on what type of meats and vegetables your family enjoys.
Lastly, kids tend to be more sensitive to heat than adults so so serve your child’s soup slightly cooler than you might prefer. A quick fix: stir in a small, single ice cube to lower the temperature of a hot soup.